Based on the words "Cerca Trova" (seek and you shall find) which are written on a green flag in the fresco (the only words written on any of the fresco's flags) and other historical evidence which suggests that a hidden cavity in the building's architecture, researchers believe they are very close to resolving the mystery.

They also believe that the fact "Cerca Trova" was written on a flag is a coded message from Vasari that Leonardo's 19x13 work, already known at that time as "Fight for the Flag", lies behind the wall. "Fight for the Flag" was allegedly part of a planned larger work, "The Battle of Anghiari" that was never finished.

The lead researcher, Maurizio Seracini, was quoted in Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code for his work on another Leonardo art work.